


The Martyr's Limbs are Being Sawed Off (They're Nothing Essential)

by GwenTheTribble



Category: The Young Pope (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bernardo Goes to the Big City, Religious Imagery & Symbolism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 18:22:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12090765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GwenTheTribble/pseuds/GwenTheTribble
Summary: Station One: Jesus is Condemned to Death.“You will go to New York to investigate the Kurtwell case.” His holiness said.





	The Martyr's Limbs are Being Sawed Off (They're Nothing Essential)

Station One: Jesus is Condemned to Death.  
“You will go to New York to investigate the Kurtwell case.” His holiness said, as they looked in on the nuns sleeping. _Oh, what have I done?_  
“Why do you want to punish me, Holy Father?” He asked.  
“This is no punishment. This is a promotion. I trust you.” Such kind words, such cruel actions.  
“Holy Father, I am a modest, limited man, believe me. The Kurtwell case is something far too big for me, beyond my scope.” He tried to insist.  
“Quit selling yourself short. You’re going to New York. You’ll investigate. You’ll gather the necessary evidence, and you’ll put Kurtwell into my hands. My papacy will not let the harm done to even a single child slip away into indifference. And you will help me because i trust you. Blindly.” His holiness told him, and he knew he could not argue. Not with a man such as his holiness having blind trust.

Station Two: Jesus Carries His Cross.  
He stepped out of the gates for the first time in twelve years, and was promptly nearly hit by a motorbike. Bernardo gulped, but went on, each step feeling like a nail in the gallows being constructed just for him.

Station Three: Jesus Falls the First Time.  
He weeps on the seventh day in New York. No one will testify. Priests are cold to him when they hear who he is. He misses his little room, the basilica, the gardens.  
Still, he is not sure that this is not a punishment.  
Still, he could not resent his holiness even if it were.

Station Four: Jesus Meets his Mother.  
His holiness knew what he was sending him to when he sent him. His holiness looked at him with kind eyes over skype. His holiness understood. His holiness let him continue on.

Station Five: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross.  
He found the liquor store the second week, feet aching, hands shaking. Freddy smiled politely at him as he rung up his bottles.  
In his room, he drank deeply, until he could sleep without dreams. Without memories.

Station Six: Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus.  
On the third week, a man with his face covered pushed him into a back alley and punches him. “Get out of Queens.” He said, before running off. His nose was bleeding, almost gushing blood as he stumbled out of the alley. A young woman gasped when she saw the blood and his tab collar.  
“Father, are you alright?” She asked, hauling off her cardigan and wiping the blood away.  
“Yes, I believe so. Thank you, miss.” He said gratefully, lip already swelling. He handed back the sweater.

Station Seven: Jesus Falls the Second Time.  
Doors slammed in his face everyday. People wouldn't look him in the eye. He wandered through a park, drunk as usual, and sat down on a bench. He buried his face in his hands and wept. _They have sent the wrong man. I will fail his holiness. I will fail the children._

Station Eight: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem.  
Rose ran the hotel and she was very friendly. Also, enormously fat and bedridden. She needed surgery, but could not leave her room. Bernardo understood. He came and sat with her everyday, and they chatted, and it kept him sane. Her eyes were kind when she looked at him, as though she understood his sorrow. “It will be alright, Rose. Think of when you will be healthy again.” He offered.

Station Nine: Jesus Falls the Third Time.  
Sometimes it felt as though the tears should have run out, but there always seemed to be more. He’d been there three months, and there was nothing left to investigate. He’d turned over every lead, he’d walked the streets, he’d plead with people to testify.

Station Ten: Jesus is Stripped of His Clothes.  
He’d stopped wearing his new Cardinal cassock on the eighth day to be less conspicuous. On the 97th day he stood in his hotel room in just his underwear, and he believed he would fail.

Station Eleven: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross.  
The car rolled up to a stop next to him and eyes peered out from the cracked window. Suddenly he knew how to resent, a skill that had always alluded him. He resented the eyes, he resented their owner, he resented the car, he resented the driver. His spit spattered the window and his lip curled to be near such evil.

Station Twelve: Jesus Dies on the Cross.  
The devil himself sat down at his booth and tried to insist that stone is bread. The devil himself sat down and told Bernardo that he didn't matter, as if Bernardo didn't already know that. The devil always flees at the truth.

Station Thirteen: Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross.  
“I felt close to you. I sensed that your despair was the same as mine. That was the moment I thought to myself, I trust this man. Yes I, I thought here is a good man, and I’m a good man too, so I’ll tell that good man the things he wants to know. Yes, Kurtwell is my father, but that’s not the point. The point is the horror.” David told him, and Bernardo cried, but he smiled too.

Station Fourteen: Jesus is Placed in the Tomb.  
The Holy Father was waiting for him when he finally came home.  
“Welcome back. You’ve done well. Let’s go for a walk in the gardens, the nuns have missed you,” he said, and Bernardo followed.


End file.
